Tugs to Reach MOL Comfort

Three tugboats and a patrol boat were scheduled to reach the MOL Comfort today, approximately 1 week after the vessel split in two while battling inclement weather in the Indian Ocean.

An update Monday morning from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said that the fore and aft parts are drifting near 15”12N 66’53”E and 13’38”N 64’10”E, respectively, in an east-northeast direction and that the weather at the site is still adverse.

MOL confirms that there still has been no large volume of oil spilled and that the majority of the cargo is still aboard the fore and aft parts.

The arrival of the tugs should shed some new light on the condition of the vessel sections, the cargo and options for salvage. The tugs are rumored to be that of Smit Salvage and Nippon Salvage, but so far no official information regarding the salvage has been released.

The MV MOL Comfort, a 2008-built 8,000 TEU containership, broke in half about 200 miles from the Yemeni coast on June 17, 2013 while enroute from Singapore to Jeddah with a load of 7,041 TEUs. All 26 crew – made up 11 Russians, 1 Ukrainian and 14 Filipinos – escaped the sinking ship on two life rafts and a lifeboat.